This chapter talked about assessment and the MI theory of assessment. I learned that the MI theory of assessment is close to the perspective of a growing number of educators who have argued that authentic measures of assessment probe students’ understandings of material more thoroughly than multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank tests. One of the reoccurring things I noticed in this chapter was the importance of authentic assessment. The book states that authentic measures allow students to show what they learned in context- meaning that they are showing what they learned in the same environment they learned it in. I also learned that MI theory supports the belief that students should be able to show competence in subject, skill, context area, or domain in any one of a variety of ways. The biggest thing that I got out of the chapter that will greatly impact my classroom and my lesson plans is that any subject can be assessed in at least eight ways. MI theory talks about teaching in eight ways but it also believes that a teacher should be able to assess students in eight ways. There is a need to provide students with assessment experiences that include access to a variety of methods of presentation and means of expression. The fact that as teachers we need to be thinking of assessing students that satisfy each of the eight intelligences will impact the way I design my lessons and the way that I design my assessments, whether they be formative or summative.
Cheyenne
This chapter discusses using the MI theory in assessments, and I don’t think I completely agree with everything. I definitely see the benefits of having open ended projects for final assessments in lieu of standardized testing, but I think it reaches a point where it can be too open ended. If each student has complete freedom in their final projects, then how do you grade them? It wouldn’t be plausible to create one rubric for what will likely end up being 25 or so completely different projects in a single class, nor would it be even possible to create 30 different rubrics. While those people who find comfort in large amounts of freedom would be having a field day with such an open ended project, people like me, who need a set of guidelines or instructions to follow would be exceedingly overwhelmed and lost. I understand the need to reach all of these different intelligences, but I think at some point there needs to be a limit. Things can only be so open ended before they get lost and confusing and all around chaotic and messy.
And another thing, that I am sure many people would disagree with, is that constantly giving extremely open ended projects will result in students passing in the same things with different information. It stops them from getting out of their comfort zone and from exploring the different possibilities in other areas of intelligence. So while I do agree that standardized tests are not fair assessments, I think there need to be limits on the kinds of potential projects that can be made. Each unit can switch up which intelligences are encouraged to be used, allowing students to show what they know and what they have learned in different ways, while also learning to be comfortable exploring these different intelligences.
Dominick
This chapter offers different ways that students with different intelligences can be identified. There are many different assessments a teacher can do in order to find this out. Teachers can do this through audio assessments, drawing assignments, writing assignments and many more. Another unique way of assessing what type of intelligence a student may be is to have them highlight in information from a photocopied piece of paper. Everyone in the class receives the same paper and at the end the teacher sees what the students highlighted. This will be quite telling about what type of intelligence the student is. Students will also be able to keep tabs on their own work. This will help students to identify whether or not they are excelling in their work or not. Standardized tests are not a good way to measure different intelligences because these tests only fit certain students’s types of intelligences. In my opinion there needs to be others tests that help to measure what kind of intelligence students have. One possible way to address this problem is to perhaps have the questions worded differently, but even then how does that help the student? If a student has an intelligence with music how can a question that is worded differently on a standardized test possibly help them to understand it better. I believe that standardized tests are the worst way to measure a student’s intelligence. There needs to be a test that measures every kind of intelligence. Every student has their own intelligence, we must find it and help them capitalize on it.
Cory
This chapter talked about how assessment can be used effectively with the multiple intelligence theory. It threw out many ideas I had never thought of to replace a standard test. Instead of a written test, you can offer a test using illustrations, and audio test, or oral test instead of traditional written test. This is a new idea to me that could work very well in the classroom, and with my beach ball attitude, I would probably give my students the option of what they want to do. I think that students should be allowed to be tested in ways that will help them succeed, so changing the way you test them based on their learning style could prove to be very beneficial. Another idea I really liked was having students chart their grades and progress in the class. This can help students and teachers in a variety of ways. It is an easy way for either to see how they are doing in the class. It also can show a teacher if a student is struggling in a certain area or if they are actually progressing. This is also a way to prove to a student that they are smarter than they think. Sometimes kids will think that they are stupid or not really learning much, and this can be a tool to either prevent that or to refer to when they feel like this. The only flip side is that it could possibly make a kid feel bad about themselves when they see that they aren’t improving.
Lydia
This chapter focuses on making assessments a learning opportunity from your students. This is important because you want your students to feel comfortable about how they are being tested on their knowledge and really showcase what they have learned. On the other hand you do not want to make the assessment an easy standardized test that includes fill in the blanks and multiple choice. If I did this as a teacher I would not be able to properly gage if a student really know the material or has only memorized the content for the test and will later forget all the information. It also tells of the importance to assess the students in eight different ways testing their multiple intelligences. As a teacher this would affect me because if I let a student use their strengths to show what they know on a certain social studies topic I will be able to properly decide if my students are learning the content that I teach. Something else that would be important for me as a teacher is to not have tests at all because they do not let students apply what they have learned to something that will relate to them in life today. Having portfolios of the students work would show what they have accomplished over the whole year and would allow students to reflect on what they have learned at the end of the year. By having students make a portfolio I could use this as a fun assessment and also properly gage what the students are interested in and what standards they have met for my class.
Shane
In this chapter of Multiple Intelligences, the topics addressed have to do with assessments and how we as teachers should and should not give them. It all comes down to how the assessment is set up, from here teachers should take a step back and observe the students before throwing an assessment at them. We as teachers need to understand who our students are and how they work, this includes what type of multiple intelligence they may have. When we have figured out what kinds of learners we are dealing with then we can give them work and assess them based on the way they learn best. We find out through reading that students understand more when there is depth. When I assess my kids I want to give them questions that are not as similar to standardized test. Standardized test make it difficult for students to explore who they are in their intelligences and limit them as learners. I want them to be able to express the knowledge they have gained not just fill it with fluff. The more content a student puts into their answers the more they express to me as a teacher of what they know. It is hard to mark an answer wrong if a student has many right details and maybe one thing in a response that is wrong. Giving open ended assessments may not work for all learning types, but it should help each student be able to get the ball rolling. I really enjoyed the different types of assessments that gave examples. A variation of assessment could be something as simple as multiple choice questions and how they are worded.
Sara
In chapter ten of Multiple Intelligences, we look at fully following through with teaching with multiple intelligences in mind. It is wonderful if a teacher creates a great lesson with all the intelligences in mind. However if a teacher does not then incorporate any differentiation when it comes to assessment of the material, they are not helping their students succeed. Teachers need to make sure that when they are teaching with multiple intelligences in mind, they fully follow through with the process. While it would be wonderful if a teacher could create a different test for each student that has a different dominant intelligence, this likely cannot happen. Instead a teacher should focus on having some different options for students to choose from, rather than a traditional test. The main idea is that as a teacher you cannot teach students taking into account the intelligences, and then hand them a traditional test and expect them to do well. While students have most likely retained the information better due to the teaching style, it is not fair to then ask students to prove their knowledge with a standardized test or traditional test. In my classroom there are different options that I can choose to assessing my students. Rather than taking a traditional test, students can choose to make a creative piece, or write a paper explaining their knowledge. They could make a video showing their knowledge or could lead a discussion on the topic. There are many ways that students can prove the understand material, and by allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways students are more likely to achieve success.
Rhi
“Learning in eight ways is fun, but when it comes to our bottom line—evaluating students’ learning progress—we’ve got to get serious again and test the way we’ve always tested” (p.130). This quote shocked me! How is it possible that someone could say intelligences are for “fun” and to “test the way we’ve always tested”… I strongly stand by the phrase that change is good. It is extremely difficult to successfully assess all students by one test. There is no way we can continually keep the same system of testing because generations change over the years and learning styles does take part in how students are assessed. I noticed a lot about tracking students progress, which in the future I would like to learn how to affectively do that because it seems as though, with everything else going on in a classroom, there isn’t much time for journaling about students. It is definitely important for a teacher to keep track of progress, but it is also important for the students to understand how they’ve progressed on their own. Having strong relationships with students will help to foster the growth of their learning during this process. Meeting with students throughout the year to discuss their progress will not only help you to understand their thoughts and feelings, but also help them to understand what they need to improve on. As I’ve focused on a lot throughout these readings, it’s very important to have student input in both teaching strategies and engaging students in how to improve their own learning.
Cooper
This chapter talked a lot about how we can address multiple intelligences in our assessments. Several times throughout our readings I’ve started to feel frustrated because I felt many of our readings have been nearly identical and coming up with new reactions to the material didn’t feel honest, fortunately in this chapter it was not the case. I spent so much time thinking about how to incorporate students with different MIs, that I kind of glossed over the fact that our assessments may not accurately show what our students learn if we don’t attempt to make those accommodating to those needs as well. One method I thought was interesting and in my personal experience had been helpful was to give students an opportunity for an oral exam as opposed to a regular test. For someone like me who often talks through something to understand it giving students like myself the opportunity to illustrate an understanding of the material without the pressure of having to write something concrete and unwavering might be helpful. I think it’s very important that as long as we are talking about multiple intelligences that we are also talking about multiple means of assessment. If we only assess students from the perspective of specific kind of intelligence then we will surely miss out on what could be great understanding of the material.
Katelin
This whole chapter was exactly what I have been saying I want to happen in my classroom. Standardized tests do not evaluate how much a student grasped the concept. If a student learns in a logical way, let them do a logical project that shows that they really mastered their material. I have the picture in my head that on some assignments I would pair up people with the same learning style and have them do a project together, depending on how intense the project is. Project based learning versus testing is so much more effective I feel in learning and even motivating the students. If they know they are not going to get graded on whether or not they know every single question on a test, and they are able to be creative and prove themselves in a way that they prefer, then why have we not been doing this long ago? To expect a student to be able to answer every single question on a test correctly, is really just forcing them to memorize material for a test, just to forget it afterward. If a student has to do an assignment that is meaningful and toward their type of learning in context, they are much more likely going to actually learn and remember the material. Throughout the time with students, it is good to have them try every learning style also, not just the one they are prominent in. They are able to ask clarifying questions and sometimes work with others that are assigned to them. I feel this is a much better way to evaluate our students.
Laura
Reading about all the different ways to assess student through MI theory was very enlightening, especially considering how everything seems to revolve around standardized testing these days. Like many people, I do not feel that standardized tests provide an accurate depiction of a student’s knowledge. And, it’s not all about knowledge anyway! Students also need to know how to use their knowledge. Testing via authentic measures allows students to use their knowledge in context, which is what they really should be getting assessed on. I think that the list of varieties of assessment will be a helpful reference to have when I am a teacher because one thing I certainly don’t want to do as a teacher is automatically resort to using the same assessment over and over again—especially written tests. I also really liked the idea about using student portfolios as means of assessment. Portfolios allow teachers to look at “the entire photo album” instead of single “snapshots.” For this reason, portfolios provide a much more accurate depiction of a student’s abilities than a single test ever could. And, I think that portfolios put much less pressure on students than having them sit down to take a test. If a portfolio is viewed as an ongoing product to track progress over time, then there is less pressure associated with each individual assignment. I really like the idea that “assessment experiences and instructional experiences should begin to appear virtually indistinguishable.” What’s the point of putting pressure and stress onto your students? This will only give them a negative attitude towards learning. I would definitely like to use portfolios in my future classroom.
Table of Contents
Sarah
This chapter talked about assessment and the MI theory of assessment. I learned that the MI theory of assessment is close to the perspective of a growing number of educators who have argued that authentic measures of assessment probe students’ understandings of material more thoroughly than multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank tests. One of the reoccurring things I noticed in this chapter was the importance of authentic assessment. The book states that authentic measures allow students to show what they learned in context- meaning that they are showing what they learned in the same environment they learned it in. I also learned that MI theory supports the belief that students should be able to show competence in subject, skill, context area, or domain in any one of a variety of ways. The biggest thing that I got out of the chapter that will greatly impact my classroom and my lesson plans is that any subject can be assessed in at least eight ways. MI theory talks about teaching in eight ways but it also believes that a teacher should be able to assess students in eight ways. There is a need to provide students with assessment experiences that include access to a variety of methods of presentation and means of expression. The fact that as teachers we need to be thinking of assessing students that satisfy each of the eight intelligences will impact the way I design my lessons and the way that I design my assessments, whether they be formative or summative.Cheyenne
This chapter discusses using the MI theory in assessments, and I don’t think I completely agree with everything. I definitely see the benefits of having open ended projects for final assessments in lieu of standardized testing, but I think it reaches a point where it can be too open ended. If each student has complete freedom in their final projects, then how do you grade them? It wouldn’t be plausible to create one rubric for what will likely end up being 25 or so completely different projects in a single class, nor would it be even possible to create 30 different rubrics. While those people who find comfort in large amounts of freedom would be having a field day with such an open ended project, people like me, who need a set of guidelines or instructions to follow would be exceedingly overwhelmed and lost. I understand the need to reach all of these different intelligences, but I think at some point there needs to be a limit. Things can only be so open ended before they get lost and confusing and all around chaotic and messy.And another thing, that I am sure many people would disagree with, is that constantly giving extremely open ended projects will result in students passing in the same things with different information. It stops them from getting out of their comfort zone and from exploring the different possibilities in other areas of intelligence. So while I do agree that standardized tests are not fair assessments, I think there need to be limits on the kinds of potential projects that can be made. Each unit can switch up which intelligences are encouraged to be used, allowing students to show what they know and what they have learned in different ways, while also learning to be comfortable exploring these different intelligences.
Dominick
This chapter offers different ways that students with different intelligences can be identified. There are many different assessments a teacher can do in order to find this out. Teachers can do this through audio assessments, drawing assignments, writing assignments and many more. Another unique way of assessing what type of intelligence a student may be is to have them highlight in information from a photocopied piece of paper. Everyone in the class receives the same paper and at the end the teacher sees what the students highlighted. This will be quite telling about what type of intelligence the student is. Students will also be able to keep tabs on their own work. This will help students to identify whether or not they are excelling in their work or not. Standardized tests are not a good way to measure different intelligences because these tests only fit certain students’s types of intelligences. In my opinion there needs to be others tests that help to measure what kind of intelligence students have. One possible way to address this problem is to perhaps have the questions worded differently, but even then how does that help the student? If a student has an intelligence with music how can a question that is worded differently on a standardized test possibly help them to understand it better. I believe that standardized tests are the worst way to measure a student’s intelligence. There needs to be a test that measures every kind of intelligence. Every student has their own intelligence, we must find it and help them capitalize on it.Cory
This chapter talked about how assessment can be used effectively with the multiple intelligence theory. It threw out many ideas I had never thought of to replace a standard test. Instead of a written test, you can offer a test using illustrations, and audio test, or oral test instead of traditional written test. This is a new idea to me that could work very well in the classroom, and with my beach ball attitude, I would probably give my students the option of what they want to do. I think that students should be allowed to be tested in ways that will help them succeed, so changing the way you test them based on their learning style could prove to be very beneficial. Another idea I really liked was having students chart their grades and progress in the class. This can help students and teachers in a variety of ways. It is an easy way for either to see how they are doing in the class. It also can show a teacher if a student is struggling in a certain area or if they are actually progressing. This is also a way to prove to a student that they are smarter than they think. Sometimes kids will think that they are stupid or not really learning much, and this can be a tool to either prevent that or to refer to when they feel like this. The only flip side is that it could possibly make a kid feel bad about themselves when they see that they aren’t improving.Lydia
This chapter focuses on making assessments a learning opportunity from your students. This is important because you want your students to feel comfortable about how they are being tested on their knowledge and really showcase what they have learned. On the other hand you do not want to make the assessment an easy standardized test that includes fill in the blanks and multiple choice. If I did this as a teacher I would not be able to properly gage if a student really know the material or has only memorized the content for the test and will later forget all the information. It also tells of the importance to assess the students in eight different ways testing their multiple intelligences.As a teacher this would affect me because if I let a student use their strengths to show what they know on a certain social studies topic I will be able to properly decide if my students are learning the content that I teach. Something else that would be important for me as a teacher is to not have tests at all because they do not let students apply what they have learned to something that will relate to them in life today. Having portfolios of the students work would show what they have accomplished over the whole year and would allow students to reflect on what they have learned at the end of the year. By having students make a portfolio I could use this as a fun assessment and also properly gage what the students are interested in and what standards they have met for my class.
Shane
In this chapter of Multiple Intelligences, the topics addressed have to do with assessments and how we as teachers should and should not give them. It all comes down to how the assessment is set up, from here teachers should take a step back and observe the students before throwing an assessment at them. We as teachers need to understand who our students are and how they work, this includes what type of multiple intelligence they may have. When we have figured out what kinds of learners we are dealing with then we can give them work and assess them based on the way they learn best. We find out through reading that students understand more when there is depth. When I assess my kids I want to give them questions that are not as similar to standardized test. Standardized test make it difficult for students to explore who they are in their intelligences and limit them as learners. I want them to be able to express the knowledge they have gained not just fill it with fluff. The more content a student puts into their answers the more they express to me as a teacher of what they know. It is hard to mark an answer wrong if a student has many right details and maybe one thing in a response that is wrong. Giving open ended assessments may not work for all learning types, but it should help each student be able to get the ball rolling. I really enjoyed the different types of assessments that gave examples. A variation of assessment could be something as simple as multiple choice questions and how they are worded.Sara
In chapter ten of Multiple Intelligences, we look at fully following through with teaching with multiple intelligences in mind. It is wonderful if a teacher creates a great lesson with all the intelligences in mind. However if a teacher does not then incorporate any differentiation when it comes to assessment of the material, they are not helping their students succeed. Teachers need to make sure that when they are teaching with multiple intelligences in mind, they fully follow through with the process. While it would be wonderful if a teacher could create a different test for each student that has a different dominant intelligence, this likely cannot happen. Instead a teacher should focus on having some different options for students to choose from, rather than a traditional test. The main idea is that as a teacher you cannot teach students taking into account the intelligences, and then hand them a traditional test and expect them to do well. While students have most likely retained the information better due to the teaching style, it is not fair to then ask students to prove their knowledge with a standardized test or traditional test.In my classroom there are different options that I can choose to assessing my students. Rather than taking a traditional test, students can choose to make a creative piece, or write a paper explaining their knowledge. They could make a video showing their knowledge or could lead a discussion on the topic. There are many ways that students can prove the understand material, and by allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways students are more likely to achieve success.
Rhi
“Learning in eight ways is fun, but when it comes to our bottom line—evaluating students’ learning progress—we’ve got to get serious again and test the way we’ve always tested” (p.130). This quote shocked me! How is it possible that someone could say intelligences are for “fun” and to “test the way we’ve always tested”… I strongly stand by the phrase that change is good. It is extremely difficult to successfully assess all students by one test. There is no way we can continually keep the same system of testing because generations change over the years and learning styles does take part in how students are assessed. I noticed a lot about tracking students progress, which in the future I would like to learn how to affectively do that because it seems as though, with everything else going on in a classroom, there isn’t much time for journaling about students. It is definitely important for a teacher to keep track of progress, but it is also important for the students to understand how they’ve progressed on their own. Having strong relationships with students will help to foster the growth of their learning during this process. Meeting with students throughout the year to discuss their progress will not only help you to understand their thoughts and feelings, but also help them to understand what they need to improve on. As I’ve focused on a lot throughout these readings, it’s very important to have student input in both teaching strategies and engaging students in how to improve their own learning.
Cooper
This chapter talked a lot about how we can address multiple intelligences in our assessments. Several times throughout our readings I’ve started to feel frustrated because I felt many of our readings have been nearly identical and coming up with new reactions to the material didn’t feel honest, fortunately in this chapter it was not the case. I spent so much time thinking about how to incorporate students with different MIs, that I kind of glossed over the fact that our assessments may not accurately show what our students learn if we don’t attempt to make those accommodating to those needs as well. One method I thought was interesting and in my personal experience had been helpful was to give students an opportunity for an oral exam as opposed to a regular test. For someone like me who often talks through something to understand it giving students like myself the opportunity to illustrate an understanding of the material without the pressure of having to write something concrete and unwavering might be helpful. I think it’s very important that as long as we are talking about multiple intelligences that we are also talking about multiple means of assessment. If we only assess students from the perspective of specific kind of intelligence then we will surely miss out on what could be great understanding of the material.
Katelin
This whole chapter was exactly what I have been saying I want to happen in my classroom. Standardized tests do not evaluate how much a student grasped the concept. If a student learns in a logical way, let them do a logical project that shows that they really mastered their material. I have the picture in my head that on some assignments I would pair up people with the same learning style and have them do a project together, depending on how intense the project is. Project based learning versus testing is so much more effective I feel in learning and even motivating the students. If they know they are not going to get graded on whether or not they know every single question on a test, and they are able to be creative and prove themselves in a way that they prefer, then why have we not been doing this long ago? To expect a student to be able to answer every single question on a test correctly, is really just forcing them to memorize material for a test, just to forget it afterward. If a student has to do an assignment that is meaningful and toward their type of learning in context, they are much more likely going to actually learn and remember the material. Throughout the time with students, it is good to have them try every learning style also, not just the one they are prominent in. They are able to ask clarifying questions and sometimes work with others that are assigned to them. I feel this is a much better way to evaluate our students.Laura
Reading about all the different ways to assess student through MI theory was very enlightening, especially considering how everything seems to revolve around standardized testing these days. Like many people, I do not feel that standardized tests provide an accurate depiction of a student’s knowledge. And, it’s not all about knowledge anyway! Students also need to know how to use their knowledge. Testing via authentic measures allows students to use their knowledge in context, which is what they really should be getting assessed on. I think that the list of varieties of assessment will be a helpful reference to have when I am a teacher because one thing I certainly don’t want to do as a teacher is automatically resort to using the same assessment over and over again—especially written tests. I also really liked the idea about using student portfolios as means of assessment. Portfolios allow teachers to look at “the entire photo album” instead of single “snapshots.” For this reason, portfolios provide a much more accurate depiction of a student’s abilities than a single test ever could. And, I think that portfolios put much less pressure on students than having them sit down to take a test. If a portfolio is viewed as an ongoing product to track progress over time, then there is less pressure associated with each individual assignment. I really like the idea that “assessment experiences and instructional experiences should begin to appear virtually indistinguishable.” What’s the point of putting pressure and stress onto your students? This will only give them a negative attitude towards learning. I would definitely like to use portfolios in my future classroom.